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Prayer
We pray because prayer is communication, and communication is essential to our relationship with the living God . When you were a baby, did you cry when you were hungry, or did your mother just come and feed you when it was time? When in school, did your teachers attempt to lecture and lead, or did they just hand out textbooks and sit at their desks? When you find someone you think is cute, do you silently watch them, or do you make a move to speak to them? What about when you have problems and fears? Do you keep silent about them, or tell them to someone else? There is no relationship without communication. Communication is not only essential to a relationship, it is relationship fuel. More communication strengthens a relationship, less weakens it ... every time. Scripture repeatedly shows us that God does indeed respond to prayer and will change his plan upon a petition by those that love him. But it's more than that. Prayer -- unburdening oneself, seeing comfort, asking for help, just going over one's difficulties -- in addition to being good theology is also good psychology. 'Answering Prayers' Scripture is clear in saying that God hears the prayers of the repentant. Your heart has to be in the right place. Scripture is also clear in saying that we have to ask for God's will to be done, not ours. That is, we're to be submissive, seeking to please God, and praying for things that further his kingdom. I think it's entirely legitimate to pray for an airplane, for instance, if that's what you need to spread the gospel, but at the same time, it's inappropriate to pray for a model airplane if that's the new toy that you want to make your friends jealous. 'Prayers not Answered ' *Sometimes God teaches us things through suffering. One of the greatest things he teaches us is patience. Sometimes it just takes a while for God to answer our prayers *Sometimes we're praying for the wrong things altogether, and there's no way such a prayer isn't going to be answered. That sounds like a lot of restrictions. It's not. You'll be amazed at the prayers that God will answer if you're in the right relationship with him and seeking his will. 'Praying in Public' Having an invocation has long been a tradition at graduations. Regardless of belief, people have long been respectful of such ceremonies...until lately. Now, as part of an effort to stamp religion out of society (or to remove it from their individual consciences) our atheist friends have raised an issue and fought to change the idea of freedom of religion to freedom from religion. It is disrespectful of others, is unconstitutional, and is downright nasty. It's symptomatic of what is wrong with our nation, as a whole. "I want it my way, and screw all the rest of y'all" is the attitude. 'Matthew 6:5-8' : “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Those who would say that praying in public is prohibited in the Bible are simply failing to understand scripture (or are trumping up an argument of their own.) If you'll read Matthew chapter 6, you'll see that Jesus first talks about giving to the needy in order to be seen by others, then he talks about praying in order to appear righteous before others. He says that these actions are their own reward (and the limit to their reward) and are not honorable. As always, Jesus is talking about the condition of the heart. If you're praying for status, if you're giving so that you'll be looked at in a positive light by others (and both were a real problem in this day) then you're doing things for the wrong reasons, Jesus teaches. These are not prohibitions on public prayer or public almsgiving, however. And we know that because Jesus' next action is to immediately pray publicly in front of his disciples. Jesus went on to feed the multitudes, as well. His point was that we cannot have the wrong motivation. When someone prays at an event in public -- be it a graduation, a funeral, a church service, or a wedding -- they are bringing glory to God, not to themselves. There is no prohibition on such public prayer. 'Praying to the Saints' Do I ask my friends to pray for me? Sure, I do that. But I don't ever ask my dead friends to pray for me. I can't find anything in scripture that says they can pray for me (and I find quite a lot that says they can't), nor can I find anything in scripture that says I need a go-between beyond Jesus Christ. 'Related Topics' *Christianity *God *Rosary *Voice of God Category:Dr. Bobisms